keris palembang

kai · 17th August 2020, 06:25 PM

Hello Sirek,

Yes, this confirms my suggestion that this blade most likely got crafted in Palembang (this feature seems to be restricted to blades from southern Sumatra (and, possibly, Sunda).

Thus, we may have a legitimate reason to assign this blade to "tangguh" Palembang/Lampung even if these blades happen to copy several other styles/eras.

I'll try to answer Alan's question which I understand to ask this: "If we were considering this blade as originating from the land of Jawa, which of the major tangguh can it be attributed to?"

Regards,
Kai

Jean · 17th August 2020, 07:45 PM

My impression is similar to Kai's that the blade is more probably from Palembang origin than from Central Java, so the tangguh identification may not be relevant? I am excluding the tangguh kamardikan as the blade does not look very recent.

kai · 17th August 2020, 10:24 PM

Hello Alan,

Ok, let's assume for this mental exercise that this blade really was from the land of Jawa...

We're only looking at the major classifications and being Jawa-centristic pretty much ignore any peripheral origins...

I already stated that the blade clearly is from the Mataram line.

While the garap and some of the prabot may be a tad stiff (lambe gajah, gandik, etc.) and the greneng not cut to perfection, it might still be old Mataram; I'm just trying to imagine 2 centuries of maintenance by acid washing and just about all of these detractions will be pretty much gone for good or restored to current tastes!

The elephant trunk seems to have quite a bit of substance and will tend to loose less material from erosion; however, by modern standards it could be a bit heavier to begin with. This, coupled with a slight slant of the gandik, would make me to also consider Madura Sepuh. If this was an old survivor from any European kunstkammer, I'd need a lot more time for detailed comparisons. Given a more realistic timeframe of about 200 years, I'd be inclined to opt for the old Madura classification.

So, to wrap things up: Do we have a Madurese craftsman living in Palembang and trying to copy old Mataram style?

Regards,
Kai

17th August 2020, 06:25 PM	#1
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Sirek, Yes, this confirms my suggestion that this blade most likely got crafted in Palembang (this feature seems to be restricted to blades from southern Sumatra (and, possibly, Sunda). Thus, we may have a legitimate reason to assign this blade to "tangguh" Palembang/Lampung even if these blades happen to copy several other styles/eras. I'll try to answer Alan's question which I understand to ask this: "If we were considering this blade as originating from the land of Jawa, which of the major tangguh can it be attributed to?" Regards, Kai

17th August 2020, 07:45 PM	#2
Jean Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,740	My impression is similar to Kai's that the blade is more probably from Palembang origin than from Central Java, so the tangguh identification may not be relevant? I am excluding the tangguh kamardikan as the blade does not look very recent.

17th August 2020, 10:24 PM	#3
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Alan, Ok, let's assume for this mental exercise that this blade really was from the land of Jawa... We're only looking at the major classifications and being Jawa-centristic pretty much ignore any peripheral origins... I already stated that the blade clearly is from the Mataram line. While the garap and some of the prabot may be a tad stiff (lambe gajah, gandik, etc.) and the greneng not cut to perfection, it might still be old Mataram; I'm just trying to imagine 2 centuries of maintenance by acid washing and just about all of these detractions will be pretty much gone for good or restored to current tastes! The elephant trunk seems to have quite a bit of substance and will tend to loose less material from erosion; however, by modern standards it could be a bit heavier to begin with. This, coupled with a slight slant of the gandik, would make me to also consider Madura Sepuh. If this was an old survivor from any European kunstkammer, I'd need a lot more time for detailed comparisons. Given a more realistic timeframe of about 200 years, I'd be inclined to opt for the old Madura classification. So, to wrap things up: Do we have a Madurese craftsman living in Palembang and trying to copy old Mataram style? Regards, Kai